As a life coach, it never ceases to amaze me how many excuses people come up with to explain why they aren’t doing what they know they should. The truth is, until you are willing to change your life, your life will never change. There is an obvious correlation to our walk with Jesus. If we aren’t willing to sacrifice our accustomed comforts or are unwilling to give up our social standing, we’ll never experience the wonder of everything God has for us. Too many of us try and follow Christ while still keeping one foot firmly planted on the road of cultural normalcy.
Following Jesus is ridiculously countercultural, so trying to reconcile a life of devotion to Him with a life of comfort on earth is utterly impossible. Jesus told us it is impossible to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). While our circumstances may vary, there is nothing so dramatically unique about any of us that we can claim an exemption to this rule. At the end of the day you either love Jesus more than anything in this world or you don’t. It doesn’t matter what you say; the way you live will reveal the truth.
We waste our days looking around instead of looking within. Remember when you asked Jesus to come into your heart? You invited Him to dwell with you 24×7, every day for the rest of your life. As we allow the world to creep in and encroach on His space, we are deceived into believing we need things in addition to Him to make us feel complete. How do we fall for such an obvious line of garbage? What could possibly fill our needs and desires better than the One who created them in the first place?
Satan has engineered everything around us to convince us there must be a better way. The world is dangerous, what could we possibly do to make us feel safer? Life is hard, how can we best numb the pain with pleasure and entertainment? Whenever you start looking at adding something external to fill a need or salve a wound, you can be certain you’re on the wrong track. Everything you need is found in Jesus and He is right there with you.
I’ve been around long enough to know that believers will read these words and know they are true. They’ll perhaps even resolve to change and start relying on Jesus for everything. And then they’ll go back to life as usual. I know; I’ve been that person. But here’s the thing: if you truly love Jesus more than anything, if you are serious about being His disciple, you won’t go back to life as usual. You’ll change. You’ll stop looking to fill your emptiness with anything other than His love. As a result you won’t likely find wealth, ease, or safety in the traditional sense. But you will be more alive than you’ve ever been. You will become the person you were created to be, and you’ll leave your excuses behind. You will live life as it was meant to be.